Pro wedding vendors’ advice and recommendations to help you plan your modern wedding quicker, easier & with less stress
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planning advice
When a couple gets married, as much as it’s about them, their relationship and their future, it’s also the coming together of two families.
There are customary or traditional roles for the parents of the couple in a wedding ceremony and including siblings is becoming more common as well.
But when the couple getting married already have children, either from a previous relationship or before they get married, it stands to reason that they’re included and recognised during the wedding ceremony too.
While the sand ceremony or ritual is wonderfully inclusive and symbolic, it has been DONE (and done and done again!).
So we need some new, relevant and maybe less kitch (?) ways to include children (and sometimes other family members too) in a wedding ceremony and I think these 6 ideas are unique and fun.
Wedding thank you notes and cards are easily one of the most neglected parts of wedding planning.
But, when you reflect on the time and money that many of your friends and family would have put into your big day (the planning and celebration itself) you know they deserve a thoughtful and timely thank you.
And unless you’re planning on hosting a slide night when you get your professional photos back (you sadistic bitch!), the wedding thank you card is also usually the last form of communication they receive from you about your wedding. Leave them with a sweet memory of your big day and a feeling that their efforts were truly valued.
Here are our top 4 tips to keeping wedding thank you cards quick and easy.
There’s little argument that booking your wedding photographer is a big thing to check off your wedding planning to-do list.
Given the big bucks involved, and considering the fact that this might be the first, or only, time you’ve ever needed to hire a photographer, it makes sense that you might be looking for a little help with the process.
Hiring your wedding photographer is an investment in the quality of the photos (prints, albums, etc) that you will look back on for many years to come. And, given that you will spend up to 12 hours with them on your wedding day, choosing the RIGHT ONE FOR YOU will also affect the way your wedding day feels.
So I asked a friend of Unbridely TV, wedding photographer and high five enthusiast Alex Szczesniak of Time With Alex to help pull together this handy checklist of what to ask your wedding photographer - BEFORE YOU BOOK THEM IN.
Bronte Price is a marriage celebrant from Melbourne, Australia and long-term active advocate for marriage equality. As a newsreader on radio channel JOY 94.9, he keeps in touch and up to date with other members of the LGBT+ community, which he loves.
He is a subject matter expert on gay weddings and Bronte has also been featured in an article for The Age and a segment for TV show, The Project.
So when he wrote to ask if he could share his extensive experience and gay wedding etiquette knowledge with Unbridely readers, my answer was a firm, ‘hell yes!’
Thanks very much for your insight, Bronte!
One of the most romantic and naturally beautiful venues for a wedding ceremony in Australia is on one of our many stunning, sandy beaches. On a sunny day, there is an atmosphere of freedom and fun that is hard to replicate in any other setting.
That said, with the experience I’ve had conducting beach ceremonies over the last 7 years, I have learned a lot about the difference between a successful, enjoyable celebration and those that have proved to be challenging at best. With a little planning you can be sure to get the most from your beachside location while avoiding some common pitfalls.
There are times when the couple gets it right and the kids (and therefore their parents) have a ball and are an awesome source of fun and laughter at weddings. Just imagine a little page boy busting some moves on the dance floor or a sweet flower girl raiding the dessert table before she should; super cute!
It's the sitting still quietly for (what seems for them) a lifetime during a ceremony or waiting to have photos taken that usually doesn't end well.
We've seen the good and the bad (and the disastrous!) and want to make sure that you are armed with the best tips and tricks to get the kiddies onside for your big day.
In Australia, the Births, Deaths and Marriages offices in the states and territories conduct registry office wedding ceremonies where you can attend with your fiancé, two witnesses 18 years of age or older and up to 55 guests.
But there are some compromises you need to consider, such as:
There's always the option of eloping; running away in secret to get hitched privately. Unfortunately, some couples discover after the fact, that the potential for hurt and misunderstandings that come from eloping were not what they had intended.
But what if there were some middle ground?
Mentored by the incredible James Day, Alex is all about connection. His perception of his role in a wedding celebration is not limited to just the art of taking, producing and editing photos, but as a facilitator of wonderful memories cherished for a lifetime.
We were speaking recently about the difficulty in explaining to Brides and Grooms the value of a great wedding supplier and Alex had some thoughts that he wanted to share.
If you're not in Adelaide, you may have missed out on Unbridely's first-ever, interactive wedding planning event; Unbridely Live.
Hosted at the awesome Published Arthouse in the heart of the city, myself and 11 award-winning, experienced and generous local wedding suppliers presented to an eager audience of engaged couples and local wedding industry identities.
Focusing on the core message of creating authentic, imaginative and heart-felt wedding celebrations, the Unbridely Live team pulled together a fresh and entertaining night of equal parts ideas and advice.
From the post-event survey, it seemed that the most valuable part of the evening was the app-driven Q&A Session; 8 wedding pros tackling the attendees toughest wedding planning problems.
While we covered a lot on the night, there were still some questions that we couldn't get to, so I went to the Unbridely Live team and got them to write this article.
And, if there's anything that we can help with that we didn't cover, something you're really dying to ask, drop me a line anytime at hello@unbridely.com If I don't know the answer, I have at least 11 good mates that will!
But when it's all said and done, when the high of the big day is just a happy (but distant) memory, what will you have to reflect on? What can you pass on to your children or grandchildren, and what will you really remember about your wedding day by the time your teeth are kept in a glass of water on your bedside table?
I sat down with Mike from EverettBrookes to chat about their (relatively) new offering for clients to make their own engagement, wedding or 'whatever celebration you want to mark' ring.
2017s big trends reach back into the past for inspiration (as all the best ones do!), drawing from classic lace accents, vintage color palettes and even 70s styling and bold floral patterns. Texture will play a huge role in the new styles in the form of embellishments like sequins, lace, ruffles and pleats.
There is definitely something for every woman in the bridesmaid’s dress trends for 2017..
In case you've been living under a rock, you would know that Pantone announced their colour of 2017 as 'Greenery' - "a refreshing and revitalizing shade, Greenery is symbolic of new beginnings. A fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew."
What is super-handy, as far as wedding colour palettes go, is that greenery is practically everywhere in the leaves and foliage that were a massive hit in decor in 2016.
You hire a great wedding photographer, they take photos of your big day and you get the photos to do what you want with afterwards, right? Simple!
So answer me this:
For many couples, planning their wedding is the first and only time they come into contact with, book and work with a professional photographer. To get the most out of your experience and the best result possible (gorgeous photos of one of the most significant moments of your life and hopefully a great relationship with a photographer you can trust for future shoots), it is really smart to know your rights and obligations when it comes to copyright.
Bianca follows bridal fashion religiously - it's her passion. She has helped to style everyone from high-profile, London society brides and celebrities to Persian princesses. She knows where it's at!
Unbridely are thrilled to welcome Bianca Velt-Herron to our ever-growing list of wedding professionals and guest bloggers.
Bianca trained and worked at Harrod's London and is currently the Australian representative and stylist for American label, Jasmine Bridal, and several other international brands (follow on Facebook or Pinterest)
We hope you love her take on these Unbridely styles and in particular get some inspiration from Bianca's top styling tips and accessories suggestions!
This week Unbridely welcomes guest blogger from across the ditch, Megan of She Said Yes - a digital wedding magazine and practical guide to planning your own wedding.
Megan is only recently married herself and has some handy and relevant tips for those couples planning their wedding.
She is also the creator of The Little White Book - Wedding Diary and Organiser and has generously offered a special discount for Unbridely blog readers (the coupon code is at the end of this article).
Thanks for sharing your words of wisdom, Megan!
Quick Vows by Unbridely is a simple way to get a little of you and your fiancé into your wedding ceremony. It's a basic, 1 minute process and is meant to be a starting point for more detailed and intimate vows; a springboard for your creative genius to flow.
Have a go and remember to share it with your fiancé!
